Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini expected mid-July

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It has become traditional for Samsung to offer up a smaller version of its flagship Galaxy S each year, and this one is no different. According to a new report from the eminently reliable SamMobile, the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is set to hit shelves around the middle of July. Anyone hoping for a device with the same specs as a Galaxy S5 in a smaller package will, once again, be disappointed.

Samsung carefully guards the premium status of its flagship devices, ensuring no other device in its lineup could be seen as a top-of-the-line alternative. As such, the GS5 Mini (the black device above) is going to be a little on the modest side. The device will pack a 4.5-inch 720p display, a quad-core Exynos 3 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, and LTE connectivity. It will be running Android 4.4.2 with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI at launch, but it looks to be the updated version that debuted on the Galaxy S5.

It’s a solidly mid-range device from Samsung, which is a vast improvement on the Galaxy S4 Mini. That phone had even more sluggish hardware and a qHD (960 x 540) resolution screen. The GS5 Mini will even have some of the big software features from the standard Galaxy S5 including Ultra Power Saving Mode and Private Mode. Samsung stripped out most of it’s premium software features from the Galaxy S4 Mini last year.

Samsung will likely release this device as an international unlocked model, possibly with North American LTE support out of the gate. That all depends on how many LTE bands the radio supports. US carriers sometimes pick up the mini version of the flagship, but not until months later. The Galaxy S5 Mini might provide a good unlocked alternative if the GS5 is out of your price range, though.